Stuck in Brexitland, my only home...

I had planned to write 1,000 words last night, part of a plan (perhaps a stupid one) to write daily. It all came about because of Monday night’s writing. But I was distracted. Rory Stewart, a Conservative Party leadership candidate, was putting forward his plans should he become the next Prime Minister. I’m following his Twitter feed and he uploaded the whole performance. It lasted for one hour and 17 minutes. There was nothing worth watching on television.

In fact, last night was pretty boring. I didn’t start watching TV until 10 o’clock and hit the sack around an hour later. I slept well until the early hours, waking around 0330hrs and then trying to get back to sleep. I managed it because I remember a dream, that a couple of dissident republicans in a pick-up truck, the sort of truck capable of towing away automobiles, turned up at my doorstep and stole my car. They then drove past, my car in tow, and I had the opportunity to respond in some way. I think I said ‘thanks, guys’ in a sarcastic manner, or words to that effect, and then went downstairs to discover they had gained entry to the house and left the front door ajar on their way out. Bloody dissident republicans!

Why dissident republicans? I’ll never know and that’s the great thing about dreams: they invariably make no sense. Perhaps it was something to do with the backstop.

I eventually fell asleep and woke up again at 0605hrs. And now here I am, sitting downstairs, Radio Four’s Today Programme on the radio, I’ve eaten breakfast (porridge with fresh fruit and a cup of decaffeinated tea) and I’m sitting here writing. The light of the day is burning through the curtains and I’m contemplating the day ahead.

Caroline Lucas, the head of the Green Party - or one of its heads  - is being interviewed by John Humphrys. She’s ranting on about something, and now the weather. Plenty of cloud and rain in the north, but what about the south? I’m waiting, but I think I’ve missed it. Temperatures to remain between 12 and 16 degrees. It’s almost time for the seven o’clock news, but there is an advertisement for a forthcoming programme. “Next Monday to Friday morning…”. So, here comes the headlines.

The pips. Cutting carbon emissions to ‘almost zero’ by 2050. Yeah, right. Historic maybe, but will such a target ever be met?

You know what? In life there are so many situations that are wrong. Like magazine journalists who write leader articles that simply detail what can be found in the publication, a kind of contents page without carriage returns. You know the sort of thing: ‘in this issue, an article on…’. No, a leader article should be an opinion, a comment, and I always make a point of writing a proper leader. Why am I mentioning this? Because I’m kind of cheating now. I had intended to write 1,000 words per day, something meaningful, but instead I’m simply giving you a rundown of my morning so far. It’s a cop-out basically.

If I’m going to say anything intelligent, it has to be that I don’t want Boris Johnson as the Prime Minister. The man is a buffoon, he has a silly haircut and he wants to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union without a deal. Why? Because, like David Cameron, who gave the country an in-out referendum on Europe because he was scared of Nigel Farage, Johnson, who is also scared of Farage, wants to take us out without a deal simply because, in his mind, not doing so will mean the end of the Tory party. He too is putting party ahead of the interests of the country. I’m hoping that Parliament won’t allow this to happen and that, soon or later, there will be a vote of no confidence in the government and then a General Election. I’m hoping that somehow we’ll stay in the EU. But it’s a big ask. 52% of the country voted out against 48% who voted remain. The country is split down the middle and while there is a lot of talk about ‘meeting in the middle’ and ‘compromise’ I’m not sure if there will ever be a coming together of the two factions. I can’t say I like Brexiteers. They are a belligerent bunch with strong racist tendencies and while they like to think there was some thought behind their vote, my view is that most Brexiteers had no idea of what they were voting for. I can’t believe that most of them had strong views about democracy and making our own laws (which we do anyway) and I think that lots of them were carried away on false promises, like Boris Johnson’s lie about the £350 million per week we simply ‘give’ to the EU in order to be a member. That little lie has now been exposed. There are plenty of others. Remember Farage stating that millions of Turks were on their way to the UK? Another load of rubbish. And it goes on and on and people listened. Gullible people. Old people. Shaven headed people with tattoos on their calves, people who wear football shirts, there are so many Brexit stereotypes in the same way that there are probably plenty of Trump stereotypes, and they’re all bonded together by racism. Some of them are extreme racists, yes, but others are more subtle, casual racists. Scratch around on the surface, however, and they’ll soon expose themselves.

People say you shouldn’t cry over spilt milk, but that’s what a lot of us are doing on the remain side of the argument. In all honesty, the whole thing is now very, very boring. People are getting fed up, they want the government to deal with the more important issues of the day: crime and health being top of the agenda. But no, it’s all about Brexit. It’s been three years (almost) since we voted to leave the EU and we haven’t stopped talking about it since. Every Question Time (a political programme on the BBC) is dominated by Brexit. All political programmes, all news bulletins, focus on Brexit and it’s terribly boring.

If I could, I’d leave the country. I’d certainly change my nationality if it was possible, but I’m English through and through, sadly. I don’t have any Irish in me, both of my parents are London born and bred and I don’t have any excuse to apply for an American passport, for example. In other words, I’m stuck in what I call Brexitland and I love it whenever the opportunity arises to get out, even if it’s just for a few days.